Sadly, it's been quite a while since I've been to a show. The last time I went to a concert was at Bear's during finals week, and it came to no surprise that concert attendees were few and far between.
The atmosphere at Bear's on Tuesday however, was entirely different. The place was packed and I had trouble finding a place to sit down, something that has never been a problem for me there. Julie Doiron, who is signed to local label Jagjaguwar, headlined the show, which also featured two local bands: Everybody and The Broderick.
Unfortunately, I was late and missed the first two bands as well as a couple of the songs that Julie D and her band played. What I did catch however, was extremely enjoyable and made up for my lack of punctuality.
Julie completely stole the show; she was genuine and charming. She stood on the stage in her bright red dress and her hair wrapped into two loose pigtails, talking to the audience and smiling frequently.
"I feel like I'm not a very good singer," she said with giggle as she talked about the Canadian version of American Idol. "I would never make it past the first round."
Somehow I find that statement hard to believe. Besides being relentlessly charming, the woman could sing. Her voice radiated a kind of tenderness and soul that was clearly felt by the audience, as applause and requests for songs ensued. She reminded me a bit of Cat Power, except that she wasn't self-conscious and thus had no qualms about just being herself.
As the show went on, Julie got continually drunker. While this would normally be obnoxious, it actually made her more likeable. She kept talking about her drink, which was named the "Hairy Bear" and asking if it contained alcohol.
She took a few requests from the audience, including "Woke Myself Up." The band sometimes forgot which notes to play and other times Julie told them the wrong chords to play. While although at moments it was discordant, none of it really mattered because everyone was having such a great time.
Julie did a cover of Pavement's "Shady Lane" and dedicated it to co-founder of Secretly Canadian, Chris Swanson because it was his birthday. And then they finished the night off with a couple more songs.
I sure hope Julie D comes back to town sometime soon. Her live performance sounded even better than her albums and Bloomington will surely miss her lovely presence.
-Katie
